Hindus help Muslims restore mosque

October 2, 2010, 10:45 AM IST

Purtageri, October 02: A small village in North Karnataka has showed the way to communal harmony. In Purtageri near Gadag in North Karnataka, it's Hindus who've come forward to help their Muslim brethren restore a mosque that was on the brink of collapse.
It's a century old mosque that's been crying for attention since last October. It's roofs started leaking and a portion of it was badly damaged in the heavy rains that lashed many parts of north Karnataka last year.

Purtageri, October 02: A small village in North Karnataka has showed the way to communal harmony. In Purtageri near Gadag in North Karnataka, it’s Hindus who’ve come forward to help their Muslim brethren restore a mosque that was on the brink of collapse.

It’s a century old mosque that’s been crying for attention since last October. It’s roofs started leaking and a portion of it was badly damaged in the heavy rains that lashed many parts of north Karnataka last year.

But the rains set off a lesson a rare show of communal harmony. Hindus taking the lead to pitch in with donations and construction material to re-build the damaged mosque in remote Purtageri, a village near Gadag in north Karnataka, about 400 kms from Bangalore.

There are about 150 households in Purtageri, of which only about ten families are Muslim who are daily wagers or agricultural labourers. So they couldn’t afford the renovation of their only place of worship.

But Hindus from the neighbouring historic town of Gajendraghada donated willingly and work is now on in full swing with donations to the tune of about Rs 1 lakh that has come in. In fact, some Hindus who couldn’t donate in cash or kind, have volunteered to help with the masonry and labour.

The mosque is likely to get ready by December this year the month that’s known for the demolition of the Babri Masjid that these villagers hope will now be known for their efforts at communal unity.